The Relationship Between Stress and Resilience of Nurses in Intensive Care Units During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus infection COVID-19 has been a risk to world health, particularly for individuals who are vulnerable to it. Critical care nurses have described experiencing extremely high levels of stress under these struggling conditions. This study aimed to assess the relationship between stress and resilience of intensive care unit nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 227 nurses who are working in the intensive care units in the West Bank hospitals, Palestine. Data collection utilized the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). Two hundred twenty-seven intensive care nurses completed the questionnaire; (61.2%) were males, and (81.5%) had documented COVID-19 infection among their friends, family, or coworkers. Most intensive care nurses reported high levels of stress (105.9 ± 11.9), but low levels of resilience (11.0 ± 4.3). There was a moderate negative correlation between nurses' stress and their resilience (P < .05) and a small to moderate negative correlation between nurses' stress sub-scales and resilience (P < .05). Also, the results revealed a statistically significant difference between the stress score mean and the nurses who had documented COVID-19 infection among their friends, family, or coworkers (P < .05), and between the resilience mean score and the nurses' gender (P < .05). During the COVID-19 outbreak, intensive care nurses' stress levels were high, and their resilience was low. Thus, controlling nurses' stress levels and identifying possible stress sources related to the COVID-19 pandemic are important to maintain patients' safety and improve the quality of care.

Knowledge and Perception of the Employees Towards COVID-19 Vaccination at Palestinian Universities.

Introduction: Major efforts are being made to control the spread and impact of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. However, willingness to be vaccinated depends largely on factors beyond the availability of vaccines. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and perception of university employees towards the COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2021. A total of 310 university employees from six Palestinian universities participated in the study. A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection and included the following: personal and medical characteristics of the university employees' knowledge and perception regarding receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Results: Three hundred and ten out of 336 questionnaires (92.3% response rate) were completed and returned by the participants. The results revealed that 41.9% of university employees had good knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccination. On the other hand, 51.9% of them had a positive perception of the COVID-19 vaccination. Also, there is a significant difference between the level of knowledge and perception of the COVID-19 vaccine (p < .05). Conclusion: Less than half of the university employees had good knowledge, and half of them had a positive attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccination. Also, it has been determined that there is a relationship between the level of knowledge and perception of the COVID-19 vaccine. The study recommended that employees should be involved in educational campaigns to increase their knowledge of the importance of vaccines in COVID-19 prevention.

Missed nursing care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comparative cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study aimed to compare perception of nurses about missed care for the patients before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Jordan. It also examined how nurses differed in terms of the type of missed care and the factors that contributed to it before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, socio-demographic factors, including gender, educational level, length of clinical experience, work position, age, and type of shift, were examined to evaluate their association with missed nursing care. BACKGROUND: Missed nursing care refers to omission of any aspect of required patient care. Missed care lowers patient satisfaction and also leads to adverse hospital outcomes. METHODS: We adopted a cross-sectional design among 260 nurses working in medical/surgical wards and intensive care units. Views of 130 nurses before COVID-19 were compared with views of 130 nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used the Arabic version of the MISSCARE survey. Data were collected between November 2019 and May 2020. RESULTS: During COVID-19, nurses had significantly higher satisfaction levels and lower levels of absence and intention to leave than nurses before the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences were observed between nurses' perceptions of missed care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was observed that missed nursing care increased during COVID-19. The inadequate number of staff nurses was the main reason for missed care activities among both groups. Additionally, age and shift type were significantly associated with an increased reason for missed nursing care among both groups. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses reported higher satisfaction levels and fewer absences and planned departures during this period. Nurse managers should pay attention by maintaining high satisfaction levels and formulating appropriate policies to reduce missed care levels and thus improve patient care quality.

Health Consequences of University Employees Post-COVID-19 Vaccination at Palestinian Universities.

Introduction: The control of vaccine hesitancy comes with key protective measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and excellent efficacy in clinical trials and effectiveness in real-world data. However, some people believe that vaccination is ineffective and it causes health problems. This study aimed to assess the health consequences of university employees' post-COVID-19 vaccination at Palestinian universities. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2021. A total of 310 university employees participated from six universities in Palestine. A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection and included the following: personal characteristics of university employees, knowledge about COVID-19 vaccination, medical background of the participant, and their perception regarding receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Results: The results revealed that 32.6% and 43.2%of the participants had fever post the first and second doses, respectively. Also, 49.0% and 39.4% of them complained of exhaustion or fatigue and headache post the first dose and 58.1% and 46.1% had exhaustion or fatigue and pain in their muscles post the second dose, respectively. In addition, 29.2% and 16.7% of them had respiratory and digestive problems post the first dose and 38.9% and 19.0% had problems in respiratory and digestive respectively post the second dose. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that fever, symptoms at (the injection site), and exposure to physical symptoms have significant differences between the first dose and second doses of the vaccine (p < .001). Conclusion: This study confirmed that the respiratory and digestive problems are the main problems post-COVID-19 vaccination. Also, this study confirmed that fever, symptoms at (the injection site), and exposure to physical symptoms have significant differences between the first dose and second dose of the vaccine.

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Symptomatic Dry Eye in Nurses in Palestine During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Working in closed wards at hospitals during night-time shifts and using electronic health records may raise the risk of dry eye disease in nurses. Objective: The purpose of the current study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of dry eye disease among hospital nurses in the North West Bank, Palestine. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study. The study included 300 nurses who work at hospitals in the North West Bank, Palestine. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire on dry eye disease was used to estimate the prevalence of symptomatic dry eye disease. Results: The percentage of dry eye disease prevalence among study participants was 62% with an OSDI score of >13 (mild to moderate and severe OSDI status). Nurses who wore contact lenses worked during the night-time, and worked in the intensive care unit were more likely to report significantly higher OSDI scores (p < .05). Moreover, gender, smoking, and computer use were not statistically associated with dry eye disease (p > .05). Conclusion: Symptomatic dry eye disease is one of the most common ocular diseases among hospital nurses in Palestine.

Knowledge and Attitude Towards COVID-19 Among Nursing Students: Palestinian Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern and called for the collaborative efforts of all countries to prevent rapid spread. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 among Palestinian nursing students. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 218 nursing students from Arab American University and Al-Quds University. The instrument was developed by the researchers after a critical literature review. RESULTS: The results revealed that the majority of participates were third academic year level (60.6%). Only 84 (38.5%) of respondents had a high level of knowledge and 17(7.8%) had a positive attitude regarding COVID-19. CONCLUSION: The study confirmed that nursing students had a moderate level of knowledge about COVID-19 and a negative attitude toward it.

Effects of a Complex Case Study and High-Fidelity Simulation on Mechanical Ventilation on Knowledge and Clinical Judgment of Undergraduate Nursing Students.

BACKGROUND: Improving nursing students' knowledge and clinical judgment related to mechanical ventilation (MV) is paramount, considering the heightened need for MV due to the current COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. High-fidelity simulation (HFS) provides students with real-life clinical experiences that they would rarely confront in clinical training, especially complex case scenarios (such as a patient needing MV). PURPOSE: This study assessed students' clinical knowledge and judgment after including HFS involving MV in an undergraduate nursing program. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental design with a convenience sample of 151 nursing students using the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the intervention and control groups in knowledge (t = 20.42; P = .001) and total clinical judgment scores (t = 19.55; P < .001) post-HFS. CONCLUSIONS: Including a complex case study using MV and HFS significantly improved students' clinical decision-making, clinical knowledge, and self-confidence and enhanced their critical thinking, noticing, interpreting, reflecting, and responding capabilities.